[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 102 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9042-S9043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:
       POM-515. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 72

       Whereas federal courts have ordered a state or political 
     subdivision of a state to levy or increase taxes; and
       Whereas such an order violates fundamental principles of 
     separation of powers under which the legislative branch is 
     charged with the enactment of laws; and
       Whereas such an order, coming from a federal court, 
     severely undermines the independence of each of the states; 
     be it
       Resolved by the Alaska State Legislature, That the Congress 
     of the United States is requested to prepare and present to 
     the legislatures of all the states an amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States that would prohibit a 
     federal court from ordering a state or political subdivision 
     of a state to increase or impose taxes in substantially the 
     following language:
       ``Neither the Supreme Court nor any inferior court of the 
     United States shall have the power to instruct or order a 
     state or political subdivision thereof, or an official of 
     such state or political subdivision, to levy or increase 
     taxes.'' and be it further
       Resolved, That this resolution constitutes a continuing 
     application in accordance with Article V, Constitution of the 
     United States, and that the legislatures of all the states 
     are invited to join with Alaska to secure ratification of the 
     proposed amendment.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, 
     President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt 
     Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; to 
     the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, 
     U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 
     Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; 
     and to the governors and presiding officers of the houses of 
     the legislatures of each of Alaska's sister states.
                                  ____

       POM-516. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                      Legislative Resolve No. 65.

       Whereas the University of Alaska is the oldest 
     postsecondary school in the state and plays a vital role in 
     educating Alaskans as well as students from around the world; 
     and
       Whereasthe University of Alaska began as Alaska 
     Agricultural and Mining College, a land grant college; and
       Whereas the land grant system is one of the oldest and most 
     respected forms of financing education in the United States; 
     and
       Whereas the land grant system provides grants of land to 
     colleges and universities for facility location and, more 
     importantly, provides a method for sustaining revenues to 
     those colleges and universities; and
       Whereas the University of Alaska received the smallest 
     amount of land of any state that has a land grant college 
     except Delaware; to date, the university has received only 
     about 111,000 acres, less than one-third the acreage the 
     university was originally promised; and
       Whereas S. 660, sponsored by Senator Frank Murkowski, would 
     grant to the University of Alaska 250,000 acres of federal 
     land if the university agrees to relinquish to the federal 
     government its extremely valuable inholdings in Denali 
     National Park and Preserve and in other national parks, 
     preserves, and refuges; and
       Whereas S. 660 would grant to the University of Alaska an 
     additional 250,000 acres of federal land if the states agrees 
     to grant to the university 250,000 acres of state land; and
       Whereas S. 660 will provide a stable revenue stream to the 
     University of Alaska while protecting the state's unique 
     parks, preserves, and refuges; and
       Whereas reasonable amendments can be made to S. 600 
     relating to the transfer of federal lands in the Tongass 
     National Forest

[[Page S9043]]

     and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska; be it
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature urges Senator 
     Murkowski to continue working with representatives of the 
     State of Alaska and the University of Alaska to consider 
     amendments that will address the land grant deficiency of the 
     University of Alaska and be in the best interest of the 
     state; and be it further
       Recolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     urges the Congress of the United States to pass and the 
     President to sign S. 660 as expeditiously as possible.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, 
     President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Trent 
     Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt 
     Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 
     Honorable Dick Armey, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the 
     Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable 
     Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 
     delegation in Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-517. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 62

       Whereas the President of the United States has by Executive 
     Order 13061 created the American Heritage Rivers initiative; 
     and
       Whereas the initiative allows a local river community to 
     nominate its river for designation by the President as an 
     American Heritage River; and
       Whereas the initiative provides no meaningful protection of 
     state or private property along designated rivers; and
       Whereas the initiative creates a new layer of federal 
     bureaucracy and engages 12 federal agencies in its 
     implementation; be it
       Resolved, that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any 
     attempt by the federal government to further designate or 
     label state property in Alaska or to further federalize 
     public land in Alaska; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature opposes the 
     nomination or designation of any river in Alaska as an 
     American Heritage River under the American Heritage Rivers 
     initiative.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, 
     President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt 
     Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; 
     Kathleen A. McGinty, Chair of the Council on Environment 
     Quality; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable 
     Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 
     U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 
     Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-518. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 61

       Whereas Representative Don Young has introduced H.R. 2924, 
     which amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to allow 
     additional land selections to be made under that Act by 
     certain Alaska Natives who are Vietnam era veterans and by 
     the Elim Native Corporation; and
       Whereas H.R. 2924 will allow Alaska Native Vietnam era 
     veterans who missed their opportunity to make selections of 
     native allotments while in military service to the United 
     States to make selections under the Alaska Native Claims 
     Settlement Act; be it
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature supports the 
     provisions of H.R. 2924 that amend the Alaska Native Claims 
     Settlement Act to allow Alaska Native Vietnam era veterans 
     who missed their opportunity to make selections to make 
     native allotment selections.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, 
     President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt 
     Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and 
     to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank 
     Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 
     Representative members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.
                                  ____

  

       POM-519. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 80

       Whereas President Clinton has proposed in his Fiscal Year 
     1999 budget a fisheries management fee to fund the management 
     and enforcement services of the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration; and
       Whereas the proposed fisheries management fee would be 
     derived from a tax of up to one percent on the ex-vessel 
     value of all fish harvested by commercial fishermen; and
       Whereas Alaska commercial fishermen would pay as much as 
     $12,000,000 of the $20,000,000 in annual revenue the 
     fisheries management fee is expected to generate from all 
     fisheries nationwide; and
       Whereas the proposed management fee would impose a unique 
     burden on Alaska commercial fishermen who produce more fish 
     than the rest of the United States combined; and
       Whereas the proposed management fee would have a negative 
     effect on the economic competitiveness of the Alaska seafood 
     industry; and
       Whereas the seafood industry is the largest source of 
     private sector jobs in Alaska; and
       Whereas commercial fishermen and seafood processors in 
     Alaska are already burdened with a variety of taxes and user 
     fees, including a raw fish tax, marine fuel tax, licensing 
     fees, fishery landing tax, salmon enhancement tax, seafood 
     marketing tax, and seafood marketing assessment; and
       Whereas the total value in 1995 of the above-mentioned 
     taxes and uses fees exceeded $68,000,000; be it
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     opposed the imposition of the proposed fisheries management 
     fee; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     urges the Governor and the Alaska delegation in Congress to 
     oppose the proposed fisheries management fee and work to 
     ensure the fee is not included in the Fiscal Year 1999 
     federal budget approved by the Congress.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, 
     Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable 
     Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and to the 
     Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. 
     Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 
     members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-520, a resolution adopted by the Common Council of the 
     City of Madison, Wisconsin, relative to proposals which would 
     grant tobacco companies immunity from lawsults; to the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

                          ____________________